M4 The duration of breastfeeding of the child in months. The maximum period allowed during
the data editing was the interval between the date of birth of the child and the date of
interview. Cases which exceeded this duration were left with the original response, but are
coded with one of the flag codes on variable M27 and were set to code 97 "Inconsistent" on
variable M5. The code 96 (breastfed until died) is no longer used.
M5 The calculated months of breastfeeding gives the duration of breastfeeding as in M4, but
with the duration calculated if the respondent is still breastfeeding the child or the child was
breastfed until it died. Inconsistent durations based on the original reporting of the duration
of breastfeeding are recoded to 97. In cases where the duration was one month longer than
the interval the duration was shortened by one month, consistent with the "Rule of one"
applied in DHS I. If the duration of breastfeeding exceeded the age of death of the child, the
duration of breastfeeding was changed to the age at death of the child.

Standard Recode Files:
Household Data - Household Recode (HR)
This dataset has one record for each household. It includes household member's roster but no information from the
individual women/men questionnaires is present in this file. The unit of analysis (case) in this file is the household.
Household Listing Data - Household Member Recode (PR)
This dataset has one record for every household member. It includes variables like sex, age, education, orphanhood,
height and weight measurement, hemoglobin, etc. It also includes the characteristics of the households where the individual
lives or was visiting. The unit of analysis (case) in this file is the household member.
Individual Women's Data - Individual Recode (IR)
This dataset has one record for every eligible woman as defined by the household schedule. It contains all the data
collected in the women's questionnaire plus some variables from the household. Up to 20 births in the birth history, and up
to 6 children under age 5, for whom pregnancy and postnatal care as well as immunization and health data were collected,
can be found in this file. The fertility and mortality programs distributed by DHS use this file for data input. The unit of
analysis (case) in this file is the woman.
Men's Data - Male Recode (MR)
This dataset has one record for every eligible man as defined by the household schedule. It contains all the data
collected in the men's questionnaire plus some variables from the household. The unit of analysis (case) in this file is the
man.
Couple's Data - Couple's Recode (CR)
This dataset has one record for every couple. It contains data for married or living together men and woman who both
declared to be married (living together) to each other and with completed individual interviews (questionnaires). Essentially
the file is the result of linking the two files previously described based on whom they both declared as partners. The unit of
analysis (case) in this file is the couple in which both partners were interviewed.
Children's Data - Children's Recode (KR)
This dataset has one record for every child of interviewed women, born in the five years preceding the survey. It
contains the information related to the child's pregnancy and postnatal care and immunization and health. The data for the
mother of each of these children is included. This file is used to look at child health indicators such as immunization
coverage, vitamin A supplementation, and recent occurrences of diarrhea, fever, and cough for young children and treatment
of childhood diseases. The unit of analysis (case) in this file is the children of women born in the last 5 years (0-59 months).
Births' data - Birth's Recode (BR)
This dataset has one record for every child ever born to interviewed women. Essentially, it is the full birth history of
all women interviewed including its information on pregnancy and postnatal care as well as immunization and health for
children born in the last 5 years. Data for the mother of each of these children is also included. This file can be used to
calculate health indicators as well as fertility and mortality rates. The unit of analysis (case) in this file is the children ever
born of eligible women.

Associated Recode Files:
Additionally, there are a number of files that can be associated to the files previously described but are distributed
separately.
Wealth Index data (WI)
This dataset has one record for every household. Wealth Index analysis was introduced to DHS around the end of the
90's. When the decision was made to include the wealth index as part of DHS, standard variables added to the recode
definition for both the household and individual questionnaires (HV270 and HV271 for households; V190 and V191 for
women; and MV190 and MV191 for men). For surveys conducted prior to the change in the recode file definition a file was
created containing the score and the quintile variables. Wealth index files were created for all DHS surveys except surveys
carried out as part of the first DHS phase. This file can be linked to any of the files described above.
Height and Weight data (HW)
This dataset has one record for every child measured for height and weight. In 2007 new child growth standards
were introduced by WHO; in the past DHS used the NCHS/CDC/WHO reference. After the decision was made to adopt the
new WHO standards, standard recode variables HC70 to HC73 and HW70 to HW73 were added to the recode definition to
store the standard deviations of the new WHO child growth definition. All files using the DHS V or VI recode structure have
these variables. For surveys prior to DHS phase V a file was created containing the new z-scores. In early DHS phases only
children of eligible women were measured. Starting with DHS phase III onwards all children under five listed in households
interviewed have been measured. This file can be linked to the household members (PR), the children (KR) or the births (BR)
files described above if height and weight was taken for children in the households. The file can only be linked to the children
(KR) or birth (BR) files when only children of eligible women were measured for early DHS phases.
Raw Data Files:
Other standard types of survey datasets include:
 Household Raw (HH)
 Household Member Raw (PQ)
 Individual Raw (IQ)
 Individual/Household Raw (IH)
 Male Raw (ML)
 Parent/Guardian Raw (PG)
 Safe Motherhood (SM)
 Service Availability Raw (SQ)
 Village Recode (VR)
HIV Data and Other Biomarkers
Some surveys include national voluntary HIV testing of respondents. Datasets showing test results and variables to link them
to other findings from the DHS or AIS are available for more than 20 countries. There is a special terms of use that must be
accepted before access can be granted to HIV datasets.
HIV Test data - AIDS Recode (AR)
This dataset has one record for every individual for which blood was drawn for HIV testing. In 2004 DHS began
collecting blood for HIV testing but because of the sensitivity of the data instead of merging the results of HIV testing to the
individuals a file that is distributed separately was created. This file can be linked to the household members (PR), the
women (IR) or men files (MR).
Other Biomarkers data (OB)
This dataset has one record for every individual for which samples were taken for different kinds of biomarkers.
This type of file includes test results for health conditions such as syphilis, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, etc. and in general any
other tests different from HIV, that requires the data to be anonymous. The same protocol used to request HIV data
applies to requests for other biomarkers. This file can be linked to the household members (PR), the women (IR) or the
men files (MR).
Other standard types of datasets include:
 HIV Test Results Raw (HT)
- See more at: http://www.dhsprogram.com/data/Dataset-Types.cfm#CP_JUMP_601 4